


Rebooted

by Firewhisperer13



Series: Lab Rats Series [2]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/M, Sequel, Short Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24739810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firewhisperer13/pseuds/Firewhisperer13
Summary: It’s been years since Skai’s circuits were fried and she “died.” So when she’s reawoken by Douglas and Donald Davenport, she doesn’t quite understand why. However, when all of the bionic students in the academy go missing, she is forced to go on a final mission to save the students, along with Adam, Bree, and Chase. But Skai isn’t the only old android being brought back, and she isn't necessarily happy about that... All Rights Reserved, Walt Disney Entertainment, 2015.
Relationships: Marcus Davenport/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Lab Rats Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788910





	1. Chapter 1

_"Thank you all for taking me in and making me feel accepted. You really made me feel like I was family. Chase, I know we didn't get along the best, but I'm really going to miss you a lot. Adam, you may not be the brightest, but you're so funny. Thanks for always making me laugh. And Bree, I never would have survived living with three guys without you. Thanks for being the closest thing to a sister for me." Bree laughed and sniffled a bit, smiling at me. I wrapped the granola bar wrapper around my hand and aimed it towards the monitor, positioning it by the bars. Before I placed my hand on it, I turned back to them and sighed._

_"Tell Marcus I love him." I placed my hand on the bar and electricity shot through my spine. I screamed as pain ripped through me like a knife._

System overload. Cannot compute.

_With a final spark, I collapsed to the ground, and after a little bit of twitching, blackness closed in, and my system shut down forever._

Voices… familiar voices. I picked up on the tail end of the conversation between two males.

“No, Douglas, that wire goes in her arm,” one of them sighed.

“Which arm?” The other snapped. “She has two of them!”

“The one that she put on the bars!” There was brief silence, likely for the second man to put in this wire.

“It’s your fault one of the greatest pieces of technology in years was destroyed…”

“ _My_ fault? You’re the one who kidnapped her and forced her to sit in that cell like some sort of caged animal. If you hadn’t captured all of us, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Suddenly, I felt something attached to me shoot up very quickly, and there was a yelp of pain. “S-Skai…?” I still couldn’t see, but everything else seemed to be working.

“Wh-who are you, and how do you know my name? And why can’t I see?” I demanded, but quickly clamped my mouth shut. There was something about my voice that was… deeper.

“Skai, it’s me… Mr. Davenport.” That name… there was something about it...

The sensation of something being struck erupted in my artificial skull. _Davenport_. The family that rescued me, took me in…

and the same one that kidnapped me.

“Wh-which one?” I think I shot up straight and began backing up, but because I couldn’t see, my balance was poor and I fell down.

“The one who rescued you,” he assured me. I almost relaxed, if not for the fact that there was another voice around me.

“Who’s the other person?” There was silence. “Tell me!” I demanded. I felt something akin to a pulsation in the back of my brain, and suddenly, my eyes flew open, revealing both Davenport brothers standing in front of me. Upon seeing the brown-haired man, my eyelids lowered and my fists clenched, not matching my teeth. “What are you doing here?”

“Relax, Skai,” the first Mr. Davenport attempted to assure me. “He’s not going to hurt you.”

“I can’t take your word on that,” I growled. “He used his android to trick me and held us all hostage. And… he killed Leo…” They exchanged a glance, tipping me off that I had missed something.

“Skai,” the other Davenport began, “Leo is very much alive, and I’m sorry for what I did. I know sorry isn’t good enough, but it’s all I can offer you.”

“It will take a lot for you to earn my trust. And so help me, if you brought Marcus-”

“Marcus is dead.” I tried to be relieved, but oddly enough, I felt this dropping sensation in my chest.

“Wh-what?”

“He died, not long after you. Adam discovered a new ability and causing the ceiling to fall down. Marcus was underneath where he had hit and… he or crushed.” My face remained neutral, but something about me was dying on the inside.

“Oh well,” I answered nonchalantly. “Good riddance. He probably would have tried to kill me, anyways.”

“Skai, you know he-” I needed to change the subject.

“Why am I here? As in back to life?” There was a brief pause as another look was exchanged.

“Now, Skai, I need you to not get mad,” the first Mr. Davenport said shakily.

“Why would I get mad?” His words all came out at once.

“I hid blueprints to a project in your brain.” My eyes went wide.

“You did _what_?”

“Look, I needed somewhere to store them that Douglas wouldn’t have access to, so I put them in your brain… and I honestly thought you would have been around a lot longer. How was I supposed to know you would…” He trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish. I shook my head to try and get rid of the memory, and shrieked when something light blue flashed across my vision.

“Aah! What was _that?”_ The second Mr Davenport grabbed something from a table next to him and handed it to me.

“Right, sorry… we may have changed your appearance a little bit.” I picked up the object, which I now knew was a mirror; and held it to my face, gasping in astonishment. My skin was darker than it had been before, and my eyes were a bright, burning gold that almost looked evil. My hair was the biggest shock, however. It went all the way down to my waist and was mostly light blue and white, with some dark blue on the under-layers (see above picture). I was shocked… but it was a good feeling this time.

“I… uh-thank you… I guess?” The nodded and the first Mr. Davenport moved over and unplugged something from my head.

“I got the file!” He cried in victory.

“I don’t get it… Why couldn’t you just remove the chip in my brain and put it into your computer. That’s what it’s for.”

“About that… we tried to get your metal endoskeleton open, but it was sealed shut. The only other way to get the chip would have been to take a blow torch and melt it, but we were worried about what the heat would do to the chip. This was safer.” I nodded in acknowledgement. 

“And while we were in there… we found the name of your old creator…”

“What? Tell me who they were!” I demanded. “I need to know!”

“All right, all right, calm down,” the second Mr. Davenport sighed. “His name was Victor Krane. I worked with him for a brief period of time, before he went haywire and back stabbed me. He tried to kill Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo.”

“Oh… I was kind of hoping my memories were wrong and they were actually a nice person…” I shook my head. “ _C’est la vie,_ I suppose. Would I be correct to assume you’ll be powering me down now?” They glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“Quite the opposite, Skai. After all, I’m sure everyone would be glad to see you again.”

I had been told to wait outside a set of double doors while the two Davenports talked up the kids before I was introduced. We were no longer in the lab. That had reportedly burnt down in an explosion a few years back. Now, we were in some facility on a remote island, with a tunnel connecting us to the mainland. Principal Perry, someone I had heard of but never met, reportedly ran security around here, and there were other bionics.

_There were other bionics…_

I listened closer as the conversation began.

“What’s up with you? Someone ask you to prom?” _Leo…_ A smile gently worked its way onto my face.

“No. But thanks for opening up old wounds,” the second Mr. Davenport- Douglas- snapped.

“After countless hours of research and development, Douglas and I have finally perfected the most amazing bionic operating system upgrade ever.” Those must have been the blueprints that were in my computer.

“I woke up for this?” A child asked. My heart did an extra thump against my chest. There were others here that were supposed to attempt and get along with me.

“This upgrade is going to be like going from motor scooters to jet engines. It’ll make all your abilities ten times more powerful.”

“An upgrade, huh? Well, I’m not so sure you can make my leg any more powerful, but go ahead; give it a go.” My golden eyes widened. Did Leo have bionics now?

“Sorry, Leo, the upgrade only works on people with bionic chips. Be grateful you have a bionic arm and a bionic leg. That’s all you’re getting. At least until your next horrific accident.” I sensed that was a joke, but it wasn’t very funny.” The two Davenports began laughing, and Leo gave an effort at it before the three of them went silent.

“Mr. Davenport, are you sure that this new upgrade is safe?” Chase… we hadn’t been on the best terms when I had been alive, but I was hoping to change things this time. “I mean, some of our students haven’t even mastered their bionics at the current level.”

“Yeah, Mr. Davenport, I know you wanna give us, like, the coolest thing ever, but do you have to?” I smiled, glad Bree was still as sassy as ever.

“Don’t worry. I built in a skill app that allows the students to master their amped-up abilities instantly.”

“Bottom line, this upgrade is the best thing that Donnie and I have ever created together. I am so proud of you.”

“No, I’m proud of you.”

“I’m proud of you,” they complemented at the same time.

“Hey, hey. You know what’ll make us all proud? If you two go back to hating each other.”

“Stop, Bree. You’re embarrassing yourself. Oh, sweet girl, you don’t have to beg. I’ll allow you to kiss me.” I suppressed a laugh. The child must have fallen asleep, or something like that.

“Okay, I’ll wake him up.” I sighed in relief. Adam hadn’t said anything, and I was worried he hadn’t come here, for some reason.

“Nope. I got this.” Bree super-sped past me, coming back with a training dummy, and I assumed she was using it for this kid somehow.

“Hm. They actually make a cute couple.”

“Okay, everyone, that’s enough. Someone wake up Bob, and we’ll get started on the upgrades.” I heard the shuffling of feet, and I almost panicked, when the first Mr. Davenport, or Donald, spoke up again. “Wait- Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo, I have another surprise for you all.”

“This better not be another upgrade…” Bree sighed.

“No, and I think this is actually much better. You can come out now!” I stood there for a moment, then emerged from the doorway. The four of them looked at me in confusion for a moment, but they clearly recognized it was me, and their jaws dropped to the ground.

“Skai?” I raced up to they and fell into a group hug


	2. Chapter 2

I smiled and swung my legs as I watched the upgrades be placed into the new students. They had belonged to Krane as well, and I recognized some of the older ones. Donald marched in to check on progress.

“How’s it going with the upgrade?” He asked.

“I’ll let you be the judge,” his brother answered. “Go ahead, Jenny. Show him how powerful you are now.” She shot a ball of fire from her hand, and it formed a trail behind it, going just between Donald’s legs.

“Wow! That is powerful,” Adam marveled. I chuckled at how much he hadn’t changed. “You just made an old man jump.”

“Well, that’s the last of the students,” Douglas informed him, and his brother approached the console.

“Oh, great. I’ll do Adam, Bree, and Chase.” They got closer to the console, and Leo came up behind the three.

“Yeah, you do that, and the guy who really needs the upgrade will just stand right over here, wishing he was actually part of the family.” I rolled my eyes at Leo’s efforts, which hadn’t ceased, even though he had two bionic appendages.

“Don’t worry, Leo. I’m working on something very special just for you.”

“Really?”

“How would you like to be the proud owner of the world’s first bionic nostril?” I broke down into laughter and the little teen glared back at me before turning to his step father.

“Bionic nostril? You can’t be serious.” He paused. “I’m considering it; we’ll talk.” He walked away, aggravated, and Donald turned back to upgrading Adam, Bree, and Chase.

“Okay, Adam, we’ll do you first.” Donald began typing, but his confident look quickly turned to one of confusion. “That’s weird. The upgrade’s not taking.”

“It’s probably searching for him brain,” I joked, earning laughs from those around me.

“Bree, let’s try you.” She approached the console, and Donald began typing commands in, but nothing changed. “Chase.” He tried the same thing, with the same results. “I don’t get it. Why isn’t the upgrade working on any of them?”

“Probably because their bionics are first generation,” Douglas suggested. “We built the upgrade for the students’ infrastructures. It must not be compatible with their older systems.”

"There has to be some way you can adapt it,” Chase argued. Donald sighed and began mulling a solution over in his head.

“Don’t you dare go digging in my brain again,” I warned pointing a finger at the Davenport brothers.

“I can probably work something out, but given how old your bionic architecture is, I’ll never be able to match the power the students have.

“Who’s old now?” Donald teased.

“So let me get this straight-” Bree stepped forwards. “-They all just became more powerful, and we’re stuck like this forever?”

“Oh, my, that certainly is a shame,” Leo deadpanned, picking at his short nails.

“If all the students are more advanced than we are, then that means that Adam, Bree, and I are… obsolete.” The three of them looked devastated as Douglas, Donald, and Leo exited the room. I stood and placed a hand on the brunette girl’s shoulder, no words needed to be spoken, before we heard the train arrive. I entered the next room, and was shocked to see a police officer escorting a small child towards the Davenport brothers.

“Douglas Davenport,” the officer greeted.

“Officer Nicholas.” Douglas chuckled, and it was clear to me that these two were all too familiar with each other. “I haven’t seen you since I scaled that wall.”

“This your son?” He pointed at the young boy.

“Maybe. Can you tell me what he did first, and then I’ll let you know?”

“He’s been running all over town shooting fire from his eyes.” I gasped. This kid had bionics, too? Were they just giving chips away for free now?

“Yeah, I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“He should be going to juvenile detention, but that’s the last place I want a punk with bionics, so I’m giving him another chance, as long as you promise to keep him under control.”

“Thank you, officer. I can promise you this won’t happen again.”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t want to come back here again. You machine people freak me out.” Being an actual machine, I took personal offense to this.

“Excuse me?” I barked, slightly lunging at the officer. He backed up a bit, clearly being a bit threatened, before leaving without speaking a word of apology.

“What were you thinking letting him leave this academy with his bionics activated?” Donald hissed at his brother.

“He promised me he wouldn’t use them unless it was _completely necessary._ ”

“Come on, you can’t give me bionics and expect me not to use ‘em,” the boy argued.

“He has a point,” Leo began. “When I first got my-”

“Quiet, Leo.”

“All righty then.” He turned around and walked over to stand next to me.

“Do your adoptive parents know that you’ve been causing trouble with your bionics?”

“No. They don’t get this whole bionic thing. That’s why I asked the officer to bring me here.” Donald pulled his brother aside and my gaze lowered. I couldn’t help but feel bad for this kid. I had always been with people who were just like me, free to practice my abilities whenever I wanted. This kid clearly had a different situation, and it was affecting him. The two brothers seemed to reach a decision, as Douglas stepped forwards.

“Daniel…” He grabbed his brother and pushed him forwards. “Meet your new dad.” The brunette quickly tried to dash away, but Donald stopped him.

“Douglas,” he growled between his teeth.

“Fine. Look, since I can’t trust you to be responsible with your bionics, I guess we’ll have to teach you to be responsible. As long as your parents approve, I’m enrolling you in the Davenport Bionic Academy.”

“Really? Awesome!”

“And, since Leo has been doing such a great job as the academy’s newest mentor, I think it’s only fitting that he train our newest student.” I could tell Douglas was attempting to dump his responsibilities on someone else.

“Thanks, Douglas.” Leo couldn’t see past what he was doing.

“No problem, buddy. See, this way, if it doesn’t work out, we can all blame you.” He ran away and I practically fell over laughing.

“Hey, if it makes you feel better, Leo, I’ll help you out,” I offered between gasps. He sincerely smiled at me.

“Thanks, Skai.”

“No problem. I don’t want you to break the kid.” He opened his mouth wide in shock as I made my way towards Adam, Bree, and Chase, who were sitting and standing around in the lounge area behind us.

“We’ve dedicated our entire lives to being bionic heroes. Now, we don’t even matter,” Bree ranted, angrily plopping into her seat.

“Yeah. When you think about it, it’s like we’ve been training our own replacements.”

“Guys, what’s with the doom and gloom? I’m actually okay with it.” I raised an eyebrow at the less-intelligent bionic. “In fact, I’ve been checking out some retirement communities, and they’re awesome. Look.” He held up the magazine he was holding. “This one has railings on the toilets.” I shook my head.

“Retirement? No way. You all are teenagers.” I attempted to talk some sense into Adam. “Bree, you haven’t even gotten your driver’s license yet.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Skai. She won’t need it. Most of the old folks’ homes don’t even let you drive. But get this: There’s a van that’ll take you to the market twice a week.”

“We’re not retiring,” Chase protested, shooting up. “I’m gonna figure out a way to give us an upgrade. And not only that. I’m gonna make sure it’s even better than everyone else’s. After all, I am the smartest man in the world.” I rolled my eyes at Chase’s bragging. That, unfortunately, hadn’t changed since the last time I had seen him.

“Not anymore, you has-been,” I shot back playfully.

“Whoa! This place comes complete with people who will change your pants. Now that’s easy living.”

“Adam, give it a rest,” Bree groaned, before turning to me. “Changing the subject… how does it feel to be alive again, Skai?” I grinned.

“I can’t believe it actually happened,” I answered. “It feels so strange… almost like none of this is real, even though I know it is.”

“We all missed you,” Chase smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but blush.

“That means a lot, Chase, considering we didn’t really… get along last time.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck like a cartoon character.

“I’m really sorry about that, by the way. I guess I just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that there was someone smarter than me out there, let alone right in front of me.”

“Well, not to brag, but you don’t have a supercomputer nailed into your head.” We both chuckled and I sighed.

 _Things are going to be better this time_.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo and I stood in front of the troubled child, apparently named Daniel, ready to begin our lesson.

“Okay, Daniel, since you have bionic ability replication, we’ll start you off by touching one of these students, so you can take on their ability,” I informed him.

“Okay.”

“Wait a minute.” One of the younger students, Bob, stepped forwards. “This kid can just touch me and he’ll be able to do everything I can do?”

“That’s right,” Leo responded. Bob pulled a yellowed piece of paper from his back pocket.

“Well, here’s my class schedule, my chores, have at it. I’m going to sleep until I’m twenty.” Daniel looked at the piece of paper, confused, and I called the student out.

“Bob!”

“It was worth a shot.” He took the paper back from his fellow student and stepped back in line. “Okay, Daniel, go ahead.” One of the older, male students stepped forwards and Daniel touched his arm, static electricity-esque sparks shooting between them.

“Great. Now you have his bionic thunderclap.”

“Cool.” Daniel clapped his hands and a loud boom echoed, sending everyone flying back except me, on account that I was largely metal. Some of the roof came tumbling down, and I rolled my eyes.

“Not so hard,” I warned.

“Sorry.” Douglas emerged from his workplace covered in dust, some broken machine now wrapped around his neck.

“Well, I can see this is going well,” he stated sarcastically, prying the device off his neck.

“Daniel, you have to focus,” Leo scolded.

“I am focusing. But how am I supposed to master my abilities when I get a new one every five minutes.”

“He does have a point.”

“I have the ability as well,” I pointed out. “It took me almost two years to master it.”

“Yeah. Too bad you can’t upgrade him like everyone else. Then a skill app would bring him up to speed instantly.”

“I can give him the upgrade, but I’m not gonna. Not until he shows me he can be responsible with his bionics.”

“Also, attempting to have him master the ability instantaneously could prove dangerous for both him and others. It could cause a data overload in his chip, or his brain could explode.”

“What Skai said…” Douglas seemed increasingly concerned.

“But, Dad…”

“End of discussion. Now get back to your training.” Leo turned the adult.

“I gotta be honest, Douglas. This whole ‘you being a dad’ thing is a little weird.”

“I know. It’s freaking me out.”

“Yeah, the last time you were a dad, you kidnapped me.” Douglas rolled his eyes and walked away. “Okay, Daniel. Touch Bob’s arm.”

“But be careful. I’m a fragile flower.” I covered my mouth as I snickered at Bob’s word choice. Daniel touched his arm.

“Great. Now let’s see how you do with super strength.”

“I’ll go hide in the other room,” I joked.

“Okay.” Bob grabbed the kid and tossed him across the room.

“Bob!” I screamed.

“I know. I can throw him much farther. Let me try again.”

“Wow… you really can’t get super strength and intelligence in the same body…”

“You’re useless!”

The sound of something being thrown to the ground echoed. It had been a couple hours since training had ended, but I was still in the training room, which I quickly raced out of, finding Chase standing over a broken laptop. He noticed two students staring warily at him, and he snapped at them.

“Do you mind? This is a private moment between a man and his computer.” They walked away and Bree came towards us, looking distressed and angry.

“Chase, have you seen my students?” She asked bitterly.

“Nope,” he replied honestly, confusing the brunette.

“Huh. We were supposed to start training an hour ago. Today’s lesson is very important. It’s called ‘You’re Not Better Than Me.’” Adam strode out from behind a pillar in a kilt and ridiculous hat, wielding a golf club.

“Hey, has anybody seen Bob? Leo said he was training a little while ago but hasn’t seen him since. Now that I’m retiring, I need to know if he can play golf with me on Thursdays.”

“Adam, please, just wear something normal,” I begged before getting back into the real conversation. “And now that he mentions it, I haven’t seen or heard Bob since we finished Daniel’s training.”

“Wait, no. First, my students are missing, and now Bob? Something weird is going on. I’m gonna go look for everyone.” Bree exited the room, leaving me with Chase and Adam.

“Speaking of weird, why are you wearing that?” The other bionic brother asked.

“The hat? Because I’m a golfer.”

“The kilt,” I clarified.

“Oh. Because somebody changing my pants is easy living. This is what I call breezy living.” I gagged a little bit and Chase wandered back over to me, eyes wide.

“I’m starting to think with your brother, it’s best not to ask.”

  


Our break from Daniel’s training was over, and now we were back at it. Leo was currently hurling energy orbs at him, while the kid attempted to block them with a force field, like Chase.

“Come on, Daniel. Make your force field bigger,” Leo instructed.

“I’m trying!”

“Concentrate.”

“It’s kinda hard to concentrate when you keep yelling ‘concentrate.’” His guard went down for a second, and so did the force field. An orb hit Daniel and he fell to the ground as he cried out in pain. “You know, this would be a whole lot easier if you just gave me that upgrade.” I rolled my eyes and moved to help Daniel up.

“No. You heard your dad. He wants you to master your bionics the old-fashioned way.”

“Okay. But, if my training’s not going well, doesn’t that say more about you two as mentors than me as a student.” He was trying to get to us, but I wouldn’t let him.

“Oh, please. I was just rebooted a few hours ago. I think your father would make an exception with me, especially because he tried to kill me once, so now he feels bad.” Leo chuckled behind me.

“Oh, please, Danny boy. I invented that trick. You play on a person’s insecurities to get what you want. It’s not going to work on me.”

“You’re right. I guess I’m just not ready to be a bionic student.” Leo shrugged and began to walk away. “Kinda like you’re not ready to be a bionic mentor.” This kid played dirty. Leo turned around and looked at him angrily, then grabbed his arm and led him over to the console, giving the kid the upgrade. After it had finished uploading to his chip, the two of them came back to finish training.

“All right, Daniel, let’s see how this upgrade works.” Daniel put up a force field and defended remarkably, shocking me. “Well that proves it. I am a great mentor.” Today was just a day full of eye-rolls for me.

“Hey, you thought that was cool, watch this.” Daniel took a stance, and suddenly, the students behind Leo… vanished. I gasped and my hands flew to my mouth.

“How did you do that?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“I didn’t.”

“Then how did they all just disappear?”

“I don’t know. But if anyone asks, I’m blaming it on Leo.”


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel sprinted away and I ran into the other room, finding Douglas talking to Mr. Davenport and Chase. I was just about to tell them what happened, when Bree ran in from another room, looking just as distressed as I did.

“Mr. Davenport, we have a problem. I can’t find my students anywhere.”

“Are you sure they’re not just avoiding your training session? I mean, I’ve sat through your class. We all think you could use a little pizzazz.”

“All the students in the training area just vanished,” I informed them.

“What?” Leo and Daniel had followed in after me.

“Bob’s gone too,” Adam panted. “And I can’t lose my Bob. We have an eight-am tee time.” I groaned.

“That’s not important right now, Adam!”

“All right, everybody calm down. There has to be a logical explanation.” The students around us vanished the same way the last ones had. “Or not.” The rest in the room disappeared, along with Daniel.

“Daniel!”

“Everybody’s gone! What are we gonna do?” I began pacing and running my fingers through my hair. It was my first day back, and things were already going wrong.

“What do you mean ‘we?’ I’m retired.”

“Yeah? Well it’s time to come back out, Adam. This is serious!” Chase grabbed onto me to keep me from pacing, and I glared at him until he let go. Bree raced off to look for the students, but came back in only a few seconds.

“I double-checked the whole academy. All the students are gone.”

“The new upgrade must’ve caused a glitch that made them geo-leap away.”

“Daniel disappeared and we didn’t give him the upgrade.’

“Technically, that is correct. _You_ did not give him the upgrade,” The boy tried to walk away.

“Leo!”

“That kid was impossible to train. And trust me, I happen to know a thing or two about slow learners.”

“I specifically told you _not_ to give him that upgrade.”

“Don’t blame me. You built the software that made everyone disappear.”

“For the record, Donnie had just as much to do with this as I did. If not more. A lot more. In fact, this whole thing was his idea.”

“It was not!”

“Was too.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Stop arguing!” I cried, and silence fell. “We have to find them.”

“Although with them gone, we are top dog again.” I glared at Chase with crazy eyes and he silenced.

“Do something!”

“Okay, I’ll pull up their GPS locators, and find out where they are.” Chase typed in a bunch of commands, but they all came up with red ‘error’ warnings.”

“Nothing’s coming up. Their signals must have been deactivated.”

“Great. So now our brother and the entire student body are missing, and we have no idea where they are. They could be anywhere in the world!” I began pacing again. Something about this… seemed so familiar. Douglas began mashing his fingers against the keyboard hastily, but nothing happened.

“I have tried every way possible to remotely reactivate their GPS locators, and nothing is working.”

“Then we’ll have to find them the old fashioned way. Chase, map out an urban search and rescue. We’ll go mile by mile, state by state if we have to.”

“Mr. Davenport, what if we’re too late? That glitch could’ve geo-leaped them anywhere. They could be at the bottom of the ocean or inside an active volcano. They may already be gone.”

“We’re not giving up.” Suddenly, one of the monitors lit up, and video-feed of Daniel appeared.

“Hello?”

“Daniel! Where are you?”

“Listen, I don’t have much time. The lady hacked into our chips and geo-leaped us here. She had us trapped, but I busted out.”

“Place looks familiar…” Adam trailed off.

“That’s Giselle’s lab.” Confusion crossed my mind.

“Okay, I’ve been deactivated for a good while, so someone’s gonna have to fill me in on who this ‘Giselle’ is.” Bree nodded. A woman appeared behind Daniel, holding some sort of light sword.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? How did you escape?” She held up the sword to reveal it was actually a whip, and flung it, cracking the screen.

“Dad, hurry!” Daniel ran away and she approached.

“Say goodbye to your son, Douglas.” The feed went dead and my vision got cloudy. I knew where I had seen this before. This had happened to me… with Douglas and Marcus. I began hyperventilating and curled up on the floor, voices around me echoing and far off as I babbled nonsense.

“Kidnapped… cage… Donald… Marcus… death…” I spouted out over and over again. “Couldn’t warn… naive… trapped… all my fault…” Eventually, the panic attack subsided, and I stood, anger flushing out the fear in my system.

“Skai… are you all right?” Chase asked worriedly.

“Yes, I’m fine now. We have to go rescue them.”

“Everybody suit up,” Donald ordered with hesitation.

  


I had been given a spare suit to wear on this mission. The lab was made of almost exclusively white and grey, and was large. I stuck close to everyone, not wanting a repeat of last time someone was kidnapped.

“Adam, Bree, Chase, and I will go this way,” Mr. Davenport instructed. “Douglas, you, Skai, and Leo take the other side.”

“Okay.” Before we could move, a little boy emerged from the doorway.

“Guys!”

“Daniel, you’re okay.” I felt as though I were about to cry.

“Where are the students?” Chase asked.

“Hiding in the other room. Come on.” He raced off, but I froze. That wasn’t Daniel, or at least, not the real him. Something wasn’t right, but I followed so I could protect the others.

“Ooh, wow, this place is fancy,” Mr. Davenport marveled.

“Don’t worry. I have the name of her decorator.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Where are they?” I asked angrily, knowing we had been tricked. The sound of locks clicked echoed.

The doors are locking.”

“What’s going on?” There was the sound of something whooshing, and when I turned around, the woman who I presumed was Giselle emerged.

“Well, well, well. So nice to see the family all together. Even the old ones, long forgotten.” She smirked at me and my fist clenched.

“Giselle, you’ve got five seconds to tell me where the rest of the kids are before I blast you,” Douglas threatened.

“One thousand one,” she counted, taunting us. “One thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four.” She pushed a button and video feed of the students appeared… including Daniel. I knew this wasn’t really him. “There they are.”

“Wait, how is Daniel in there and out here?” Adam asked. “This is just like the last time we were here with the two Chases. This lady and her magic tricks. She gets me every time.”

“It’s a trap,” I pointed out.

“That’s not my son.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I am your son, just not the one you think.” Giselle pushed some buttons, and the boy began to change. Daniel wasn’t there anymore. But the person who was sent ice through my wires. Brown hair, brown eyes, freckles…

“Marcus…?” I squeaked out, terrified.

“Good to see ya… love.”


	5. Chapter 5

“What’s wrong, Skai?” He asked, taunting me. “No hug, no ‘good to see you,’ no kiss? Where’s the love?”  
“Dead, like I thought you were,” I snapped. I turned to Giselle and held her throat in a vice grip. “How is this possible?” She couldn’t answer with no air, so I threw her to the ground and stood over her. “They told me he was crushed under a mountain of rubble.”  
“I was making a little ‘movie’ with your freak family over here. And while I was making this ‘movie,’ Douglas couldn’t stop bragging about his greatest creation ever, an android with bionic speed, strength, and intellect. I spent so much time trying to steal Chase’s intelligence, I completely overlooked the fact that Marcus already had it. So I dug him up, and reassembled him piece by piece.”  
“Oh, we should try that with Grandma Davenport!” Adam cried, and snapped my head around at him.  
"Shut up!”  
“Marcus’ bionic intelligence gives him a photographic memory.” I froze. Photographic? Oh no… “Which means, he remembers everything from his past, and boy, does he have an axe to grind with you, Douglas.”  
“Me? Why me? Leo was the one who hated you.”  
“Me? Uh, yeah, that’s true…”  
“When they attacked me, you ran away,” Marcus fumed. “You were my creator and you left me to die.”  
“Well, to be fair, I didn’t think you’d be coming back.”  
“Not helping, Douglas!”  
“All right, Marcus, I think it’s time we finish you for good.” Mr. Davenport held up his gun, but Marcus flung them aside with a mear thought. He couldn’t do that before. Giselle swept under my legs and I fell onto my back, groaning.  
“You don’t stand a chance against us,” she laughed. “I upgraded Marcus’ technology, and made him more powerful than ever.”  
“Well, he’s gonna have to be more powerful, because there are four of us now.” I raised my hand and Leo looked down. “Oh, sorry, Skai. There are five of us now. That’s right, bushy brow. I’m bionic now, too.” Marcus seemed to be holding back laughter.  
“Seriously?”  
“It’s just his little arm.”  
“And my little leg.”  
“Not helping your case, Leo,” I sighed. Marcus looked over at me and something resembling a sincere smile crossed his face as he extended a hand down.  
“Let me help you up.” I slapped his hand away and stood.  
“Don’t touch me,” I growled, unforgiving from our last encounter. “And it doesn’t matter how powerful you are. They took you out once, and I’d be glad to help them do it again. Get him!” In a split second, Marcus shoved me out of the way and blasted electricity at the other four, sending them flying back into the wall.  
“Nice work,”Giselle complemented.  
“Thanks, mom.”  
“Don’t call me that, we’re not there yet.”  
“Okay.” I cocked my head. Something was off here. Marcus… seemed broken, emotionally, at least. I turned to him with an angry glare.  
“Look, Marcus, I don’t know what kind of sick, twisted reenactment of the last time I saw you this is, but it needs to stop. I know you’re angry at all of them, but please! They’re my family, and it hurts me to see you trying to kill them. And you don’t want to see me hurt.” He smirked and approached me, but when I tried to move, I was frozen in place. One of his hands brushed aside my blue hair, and his hand rested on my cheek as he looked at me with pure adoration.  
“Something inside me died when I found you on the ground of that cage. They were the reason you killed yourself. I’m not going to let them take me away from you again.” He kissed me cheek and I grimaced.  
“I died doing what was right. You and Douglas kidnapped me and my family and held us hostage in a basement. Do you think I can forgive you?” He smirked.  
“I think you’ll learn.” He turned to Giselle. “We’ll throw those four with the others and tie those two up. I’ll keep Skai with me. She doesn’t do well when restrained.” Four people I’d never seen before appeared to take Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo away, and Giselle tied up Douglas and Donald, while the only thing I could do was watch. After tying them up, Marus picked me up and led me into the other room, where one of the men emerged, roughly holding Daniel by his arm.  
“Daniel!” I cried, wanting to run to him.   
“You know him?” Marcus asked, infuriated.  
“Vaguely, but yes. I don’t understand why you sound so mad.”   
“He replaced me, Skai!” I was confused.  
“I’m sorry, what?”  
“I used to be Douglas’ son, but he’s taken my place.” I rolled my eyes.  
“You were dead! And so was I. Marcus, people move on after death. You have to accept that!”  
“Skai, you don’t know how much it hurts to be replaced.”  
“I might not, but that doesn’t justify what you’re doing. This is murder, no! This is a homicide, and you’re a willing killer.”  
“What happened to the Skai I was hopelessly in love with? The one who I would look forward to seeing, and the one, I’m pretty sure, that loved me back?” I lowered my eyelids.  
“She died in the cage the first day you kidnapped me. She was just a corpse, and that electric shock freed her.”   
“Skai, please, I never meant to hurt you, and you know that. I was trying to protect you. I really was devastated when I saw you dead on the ground. The rubble crushing me was nothing compared to the guilt on my chest.” I was shocked. Marcus felt guilty?  
“The… guilt…?” I stuttered out. He sighed and put his hands on my shoulders. Oddly enough, I didn’t pull away this time.  
“I felt like it was all my fault you had gone to such desperate lengths. I should never have deceived you. I really, truly loved you, Skai, and I did something absolutely horrible.” He looked down, then back up again into my yellow eyes, causing my heart to feel as though it were cooling. “I guess I'm asking for forgiveness.” I became angry again.  
“Forgiveness? You have my friends held captive here! How do you expect me to forgive you?” He pulled me close and suddenly pressed his lips against mine, softly and sweetly. And oddly enough, I gave in. I nearly collapsed in that moment right then and there, and when he pulled away, my look changed to one part horrified, one part confused, and a final part happy.   
“Bring him in, Marcus!” He sighed and grabbed onto Daniel, anger once again prominent on his face. But for a moment, there was sanity through the madness, as he turned to me with apologetic eyes before entering. I couldn't take it and decided to follow. Douglas and Donald were tied together with pliable steel, and Giselle loomed over them, Marcus and Daniel now by her side. “Now you can both watch your kids as they beg for mercy,” she smirked.  
“Get your hands off my son!” Douglas cried.  
“Your son?” Marcus chuckled. “You mean like I was your son?”  
“Uh oh…” I whispered.  
“Wait, he's my brother?” Daniel asked in disbelief.   
“Yeah, but not for long.” Marcus tossed the boy across the room as though he were a rag doll.  
“Marcus, please. Stop,” his father begged.  
“Are you kidding? I could do this all day! And I think I will.” Hoping to stop him, I gripped Marcus’ shoulder, but he only smirked back at me. “Sorry, babe. I have to deal with this situation.”  
“Please… don’t do this. I know you’ve always been programmed to be evil, but… there was that part of you that was good! I remember that part. The part that tried to teach me to play guitar, and that I had to sneak away to talk to.” I sighed. “We were Romeo and Juliette, Marcus. Now we’re Amy and Nick.” I relaxed as an alarm began going off and the words ‘perimeter breach’ appeared on a monitor.   
“I’ll go take care of them,” Marcus chuckled.   
“No!” Giselle barked. “Let them get their hopes up. They won’t get far.” She picked up her electric whip and left the room. I hadn’t even noticed Daniel had stood until he cried out and attempted to hit Marcus with a pipe. However, as Marcus was made of almost entirely metal, the pipe bent instead.   
“What do you know?” The boy stuttered. “You broke my pipe.”  
“He’s an android, you nimrod,” I groaned. Marcus grabbed Daniel by the arm again and began to pull him out of the room.   
“Marcus!” He stopped. “I know I built you to be evil, but I can reprogram you. We can be a family again. You, me, Daniel, and Skai could still be your girlfriend.”  
“Hey, I never said I was going to take that position again.”  
“Fine. Then maybe we’ll adopt a girl, or a kitten.”  
“I hate cats.”  
“I don’t blame you,” I muttered.  
“Come on Marcus. It’s me. Your dad. Let’s fix this.” It appeared as though his words were working. “All you have to do is release these restraints.” He broke for a moment, but snapped out of it and twisted Daniel’s arm further.  
“No! My only mission is to destroy every last member of your precious family, starting with him.” He pushed Daniel to the ground.  
“Marcus, I’m begging you.” I was the one who had said that. He looked at me, and the reality of what he was doing seemed to set in as he listened, hypnotized by my voice. “Just let him go. He’s not… he didn’t replace you. As much as I hate to admit it, no one could.” I had said something wrong. He began slapping Daniel around with telekinesis.   
“I think it’ time to put you out of your misery.”  
“Marcus, stop!” Marcus dropped the boy. “He had nothing to do with this. I… I’m the one who betrayed you. I made a stupid decision and hurt you, and that got you killed. If you’re going to take anyone out, take me.”  
“Skai, no!” I turned to Daniel.  
“This is between him and me, Daniel.” I turned back to Marcus, and suddenly remembered: I could replicate his powers by touching him. I approached my former love and touched his cheek, feeling heat that indicated I had his powers. This was it, the moment of pure guilt. I was just about to ready an orb that would kill him, when I looked into his eyes. Suddenly, I saw the kids we used to be, stupid and reckless, and it broke me for a moment. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him furiously, resolving anything I could have wanted back then. He kissed back, and that was the moment I knew he was buying it. “I’m so… sorry… for what… I’m about… to do…” He pulled away after registering my words.  
“What?”  
“I never stopped loving you, and I realize that now. In fact, I probably never will stop. I’ll always love you, even if one of us is gone. And now that I’ve told you that…” I pulled him back in. “Goodbye…” I summoned the orb, and he realized what was happening too late.  
“Skai!” I kept my lips pressed against his as I slammed it against him body, only opening my eyes when I felt I was holding nothing and heard the clang of dozens of metal pieces falling apart around me. I opened my eyes to see everyone looking at me in shock. They likely didn’t believe I’d actually do it. I stood there for a moment, over the parts, before untying Douglas and Donald. Leo approached me and put a hand on my shoulder.  
“I didn’t think you’d do it…” He muttered.  
“He threatened my friends. You all are more important.” I turned to all of them. “And I’m sorry I realized that a few years too late.” Donald smiled.  
“It’s all right, Skai. Sometimes we do crazy things when we’re in love.” I nodded and helped Daniel up off the floor.   
“Now let’s go help the others.” We ran into the next room, and thankfully, Adam, Bree, and Chase were there, unharmed.  
“Guys, you’re okay.” I looked down to see Giselle in pieces and nearly gagged.   
“But she is not,” I managed to choke out, before bringing the three into a tight embrace. They quickly let go and looked at me with determination.  
“Come on. We have to go find Marcus,” Chase instructed.   
“I already took care of him,” I sighed.  
“Really?” Everyone seemed so shocked.  
“Yeah. It hurt me, probably much more than it did him, but it had to be done.” Bree smiled at me for reassurance.  
“We’re proud of you, Skai. And I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re glad to have you back,” Donald gushed.  
“Ahem!” We all turned our attention to Leo. “Let’s not forget the guy who freed the entire student body, not to mention saved the three of you.” I glanced at the former bionics, who shrugged.  
“Yeah, well we should probably get going,” Chase pointed out.   
“Yeah.”  
“Right.”  
“This place creeps me out.”  
“Hold it.” The four of us stopped and turned back around.  
“Perry can handle things back at the academy, but if we’re going to find a fix for your melted chips, I need to take you back to the lab in Mission Creek.”   
“Whoo-hoo, we’re going home!” The other four raced out, while I stayed behind with Douglas and Donald.   
“I’m proud of you, Douglas. You're going to be a great dad.”  
“Thanks, Donnie. And one day, I’m sure you will be, too.” I chuckled at the joke and looked back at where the Marcus remains were one last time, before walked out of Giselle’s lab for good.


	6. Epilogue

The lab looked so different, and yet, it brought back so many memories. Every prank, conversation, and argument came flooding back to me as the six of us stood, crowded around a console. I tried to push aside any Marcus memories as Douglas and Donald emerged from their work space.   
“Good news, guys. We can fix your bionics.”  
“Really?” Bree was so full of hope.  
“When we left Giselle’s lab, I took some of her research.” Douglas seemed proud of his theft, for some reason. “By combining her technology with ours, we’ll be able to create one universal, super chip that can adapt to any bionic operating system, which means you’ll all get the upgrade.”  
“That means we’re no longer obsolete!”  
“Yes! We’re back!”  
“Whoa, settle down. You were never that impressive to begin with.”  
“I can’t believe you guys got to live down here,” Daniel marveled. “This place is so cool.”  
“Yeah, well, we were also force-fed food pellets that were shot out of a tube,” Bree informed him,” so it wasn’t exactly a fun factory.”  
“This lab is where it all started, Daniel.”  
“Well, technically it all started in a different lab, but your dad blew that one up.”  
“I was going through a phase,” Douglas protested. I looked at the other Davenport to see a clear box full of metal parts that he was messing with.  
“Hey, what’s in the box, Douglas?”  
“Marcus.”   
“What?” I snapped. He couldn’t be serious. “Why would you bring his parts here?”  
“As evil as he was, he was still my creation, and you really loved him, Skai. I felt kind of bad. But, if I can put him back together and reprogram him-”  
“No!” We all cried at the same time.   
“Fine. But I’m making his eyebrow into a bracelet.”  
“Creep…” I whispered under my breath.   
“Hey guys.” I turned around to see the ever-lovely Tasha Davenport approaching. She had been so happy to see that I was alive and well again. It really made me feel accepted.   
“Hey.”  
“I’m really glad that you’re all here, because there’s something that we’ve been wanting to tell you.” Donald wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “I’m pregnant.” My jaw fell to the floor and everyone gasped in disbelief, and Leo raced over to hug his mom.  
“Whoo-hoo! Hear that, everybody? We’re gonna have a bionic baby!”  
“Oh no,” Tasha retorted, “you are not turning my baby girl into a bionic freak.” She realized what she had just said and attempted to save herself. “And I mean freak in the nicest way possible.”  
“Wait a second. Did you say you’re having a girl?” I giggled at Bree’s excitement. The pair nodded.  
“How pregnant are you?” I cried, raising an eyebrow while Bree cheered about having another sister. I had to admit, that would be really nice.   
“Wow. All those years of living down here, hiding our bionic secret, and look at us now.” I smiled and placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “It’s kinda crazy how life works, isn’t it?”  
“Yeah. You know, I actually kinda missed this place.”  
“Me too. You know what I missed most about it?”  
“What?”  
“This.” Adam punched his brother in the arm, causing me to chuckle.   
“You do realize that without our chips, you don’t have super strength, and I’m just as strong as you, right?”   
“Uh, I do now.” Adam ran and his brother attempted to catch him, but I grabbed him and pulled him back.  
“Don’t bother. Even without the chip, he's still stronger than you.” Tasha laughed.  
“Come on, guys. Let’s go upstairs and have ourselves a nice celebration dinner.”  
“Sounds good, as long as you’re not cooking.” I turned to see a short and stout woman marching into the room. This must have been the illusive Perry I’d always heard about.   
“Perry, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be supervising the academy.”  
“I got bored,” she- at least I think it was a she- answered. “Now that the students don’t have bionics, they’re just a bunch of lame-os.” I raised a eyebrow at her. “Actually, the real reason I’m here is because I heard what happened to you guys and I’m just happy you're okay.”  
“I can’t believe it. You do have a heart.” Tasha mocked sincerity.   
“Simmer down, Holly Homemaker. I was talking to them. You and I, still on the outs.” She walked towards the elevator and Donald sighed.   
“Okay, everybody. Let’s go upstairs and make your mother feel better about herself by eating her food.” We all moved to follow Perry, but I stopped.   
“You guys go on ahead,” I urged. “I’ll be up in a minute.” Once they were gone, I approached the box of Marcus parts and picked one up that almost looked like a heart and smiled down at it. I was so lost in thought that when Chase approached, I jumped nearly three feet in the air.  
“Skai?”  
“Aah!” I threw the heart down and ended up knocking over the box of Marcus parts. “Oops…” Chase chuckled and put a hand on my arm. “Sorry you had to see that. Anyways, is something wrong?” He sighed.  
“I… need to say something.” I nodded and turned to face him. “I’m really sorry for how I treated you a few years ago. I was really rude to you and Marcus, and I shouldn’t have been. I was trying to break up something that could have been great because… I had a crush on you.” I smiled at those last words.  
“You liked me?” He nodded and looked at his shoes. “That... explains a lot, actually." I smiled at him. "Well, I forgive you, Chase. And thank you for apologizing." I pulled him into a hug and smiled. "Now come on, food’s probably getting warm.” We both laughed at my joke, and almost left, when there was an odd whirring sound. I turned around to see a fully assembled endoskeleton.  
Marcus’ endoskeleton.  
“How in the…?”  
“What’s the matter, Skai? Never seen an android regenerate before? Part of my upgrade. It’s what makes me superior to humans, and you. Now, come on. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with inferiors, do you? Don't you want to join me in the dominant race?” I smirked.   
“You know what I want, babe?” I flung a ball of fire at him and his endoskeleton melted. “Cool guys like you out of my life.”

  
The next morning, we all began packing up our things to head back. Donald came downstairs and smiled.  
“Hey guys. What are you up to?”  
“Just heading back to the academy,” I answered as Chase took my bag.   
“Oh, yeah, about that. Um, since the students all have the upgrade, there’s no need to train anymore. They’re all at the expert level, so it’s time to start breaking everybody up into teams.”  
“Great. That means our team won’t have to do all the work.”  
“Actually, Chase, I’m breaking you guys up.”  
“What?”   
“You can’t just… break us up,” Leo insisted.   
“I don’t have a choice. I need three of you to go to the academy and oversee this transition, and I need two of you to stay here and work on a new project, a new team.” New team? What did he mean by that?   
“What new project?”  
“Yeah, and what new team?”  
“I can’t give you all the details, but I need you to make a decision.”  
“I’ll stay at the academy,” Adam piped up.  
“Me too,” Leo chimed in. I sighed and made a decision.  
“I will as well. I was in their position, at one point. I feel it would be good for me to help them."  
“Okay, grab your gear. Get going.” Chase handed me my bad and I sighed.  
“Hey, don’t worry, guys. We’ll be back together before you know it.” Leo and Adam walked away, and I hugged Chase and Bree before joining them, until Adam stopped.  
“Wait.” He turned around and we all fell into a group hug.   
“Hey, it doesn’t matter where we are. We’ll always be a team.”  
“Yeah.” Adam and Leo walked away, and I quickly turned to Bree.  
“I’ll call you tonight,” I whispered, before jointing the boys on the train to the island.   
_Here it was… the end of an era. The end of Marcus and I. Those scars will never heal, and I'll never stop loving him, but I'll survive, somehow.  
But still, it was something special I had with him.  
Probably because we’re different…  
even after we were rebooted._


End file.
